City Developments Limited (CDL) has opened a new 2,690 square feet (sq ft) annex to the Singapore Sustainability Academy (SSA). Deputy Prime Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat was the Guest-of-Honour at the opening ceremony on July 25.

Located on the roof terrace of City Square Mall, the new SSA Annex comprises a collaboration space, a conference room, and office spaces for its anchor tenant, the Singapore chapter of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Network (CGNS).

The SSA Annex also aims to foster collaboration between industry and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) partners, spread industry best practices and promote a low-carbon economy to businesses.

The SSA opened seven years ago on the roof terrace of City Square Mall as a first-of-its-kind hub for sustainability education and action. "Through our extensive collaboration with six government agencies and 15 like-minded industry and NGO partners, we created Singapore's first ground-up initiative and zero-energy facility dedicated to capacity building and thought leadership for climate action," said Mr Sherman Kwek, group CEO of CDL. "Since then, the facility has hosted over 1,000 events and training sessions, welcomed over 35,000 visitors and engaged more than 100 partners."

Similar to the main SSA building, the SSA Annex incorporates green technology to achieve the Green Mark Platinum award. It was built with eco-friendly materials such as mass-engineered timber panels and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) sourced from sustainably managed forests. The lightweight, thermally insulated properties of the materials also help reduce cooling costs.

The SSA Annex is also equipped with a 31.6-kilowatt peak (kWp) rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System to achieve net-zero operational energy consumption.